It looks incredible, though I'm always hesitant to judge a book by its cover. Or a game by its pre-release footage.

Ubisoft's upcoming first-person-shooter-in-an-exotic-location bears some resemblance to Tomb Raider reboot, both in setting (though it's in the in Himalayas rather than an island) and graphical fidelity. There's also a new grappling hook mechanic which looks rather useful.

Apparently you can even ride elephants. And wear a wing-suit. Huzzah!

More interesting still, this is the first Far Cry game with co-op. You'll be able to play through the game with a friend, playing the role of Hurk from Far Cry 3 DLC.

Here's the game description from Ubisoft:

Hidden in the towering Himalayas lies a country steeped in tradition and violence. You are Ajay Ghale, returning to the country of your birth, the lush forests and harsh snowcapped summits of Kyrat, to fulfill your mother’s dying wish of spreading her ashes. This striking and unpredictable country offers visitors opportunity and peril. You quickly find yourself caught up in a rebellion to overthrow the oppressive regime of Pagan Min, a man known as much for his sense of style and charisma as his cruelty and calculated brutality. Navigating the treacherous landscape, you find your fate increasingly determined by the choices you make because in Kyrat, every second is a story.

In Far Cry 4, you’ll conquer fortress outposts from the back of a six-ton elephant and take to the skies as you rain down explosives from the seat of your gyrocopter. The vertical landscape of the Himalayas isn’t just a pretty backdrop, but a playground that encourages the player to fight, hunt and explore, grappling up cliffs or launching into the air, plummeting to the valley below in a controlled free fall with your wing suit. You’ll carry with you a truly unique arsenal of weaponry that lets you play your way, whether it’s sniping, sneaking or all-out assault. When all else fails, animals can be your biggest allies or your greatest danger, as Kyrat’s wilderness delivers on the promise of a true open world anecdote factory.

For the first time in any Far Cry game, you’ll be able to hunt, fight and explore in the open world with a friend. With co-op Guns for Hire, you can invite a friend into your world to liberate towers, take over outposts and share in the spoils. Hurk, from the Monkey Business add-on content of Far Cry® 3, joins in the fight to take over Kyrat.

Far Cry 3 was a very good game, but it was also a game plagued with shortcomings---not the least of which was its story, which many people believed fit too snugly in the "white savior" mode. Whether it was racist or not may be up for interpretation, but there's no doubt that however good the gameplay was, the story came up a distant second.

Here's hoping Far Cry 4 takes everything good about its predecessor (as well as lessons learned from Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag) and makes Far Cry 4 even better. The excellent Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon was one of Forbes' top games of 2013. Far Cry 3tied for third in 2012.